Hell Mode Challenge

I glanced down at the Wolf King's corpse, its head buried in the dirt.

“What a simple-minded bastard. That made it easy.”

The Wolf King, Serin, had been a step above the dragon tooth soldiers from the Forgotten Temple.

Those soldiers had their stats and skills sealed, yet they still possessed excellent combat sense befitting creatures from the upper floors of the Tower. The Wolf King, on the other hand, relied purely on instinct. Even with superior stats, it had fallen right into my rhythm during the fight.

I’d even considered sacrificing an arm if I started losing, then melting its throat with Acidic Blood. But the battle had ended far more smoothly than expected.

Time to claim the victor’s spoils, then.

Oh-ho.

This was my first time absorbing the Wolf King’s essence. In my previous life, I’d been too busy just trying to survive the tutorial. I never even considered raiding a high-difficulty boss like the Wolf King.

‘Worth giving up the Wolf King’s Fang.’

A smile crept across my face.

The reason players hunted the Wolf King was simple: its teeth. The Wolf King’s Fang was a premium crafting material for bladed weapons. Grinding the fangs into powder could raise both an item’s grade and attack power. Even if I sold it outside the Tower, I’d easily get seven hundred million won for it.

I’d basically burned a fortune in cash just to get a skill instead.

‘No wonder they called it the ability that turns gold into shit.’

The insults from my previous life floated through my mind. But I wasn’t worried. This life would be different. No one would ever call me that again.

A wide-area crowd control skill with a twenty-meter range. It suited me perfectly, especially since I’d decided to climb the Tower alone.

Having taken down the Wolf King, I made sure to Devour every last essence I could find across the plains. Not a single one escaped me.

But.

There was no rule saying I had to settle for just essences in the tutorial.

—Head south from the plains and you’ll find the Basic Training Hall. Pass the test and you can obtain the Tenacity skill.

—Highly recommended. It will prove useful no matter which path you take when climbing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tower.

That was part of a tutorial strategy guide I remembered.

What was Tenacity, you ask?

It was a skill that reduced flinching when you took damage. Not only that, it prevented skill cancellation from impacts during concentration-based abilities and even increased focus speed by five percent.

A genuinely useful skill that strategy guides always emphasized grabbing if possible.

The reason they worded it that way was simple.

‘The place where you can get Tenacity is inside Silver Fang territory.’

Ordinary players needed real courage just to face a pack of Silver Fangs. Those wolves had high attack power and agility. While their durability was low, they moved in groups, which nullified most of the advantages of teamwork. And if the Wolf King was still alive, you’d have to fight a boss raid on top of that.

In my previous life, I hadn’t managed to obtain the Tenacity skill during the tutorial stage either.

‘This time will be different.’

I had soloed the Wolf King on the very first day of the tutorial. If I headed straight down from here, I’d reach the Basic Training Hall immediately. Since I had no plans to return to the plains, I might as well grab Tenacity while I was at it.

With light steps, I walked deeper into Silver Fang territory.

Finding the Basic Training Hall wasn’t difficult.

A tall building standing proudly in the middle of a flat clearing. It was impossible to miss even if you tried.

I pushed open the wooden door. It creaked loudly as it swung inward.

“They could’ve at least oiled the hinges.”

Frowning, I stepped inside the Basic Training Hall.

The interior was simple. The wooden floor had been polished until it shone. Dozens of wooden puppets stood motionless atop it, frozen in bizarre stances.

Just as I remembered from my previous life.

The difference between difficulties lay in the rewards. Even choosing Easy would still grant the Tenacity skill, but clearing higher difficulties provided additional bonuses.

At my current level, Hard should be no problem at all.

“Har—”

I was about to select the difficulty without hesitation.

If only the System hadn’t thrown in an extra message.

Well, I’ll be damned.

“Hellfire difficulty?”

I had never heard of a Hellfire difficulty in the Basic Training Hall. Even as a regressor, this was a hidden element I didn’t know about.

Come to think of it, reaching a total of 250 stat points in the first week was an absurd condition. Who could possibly meet it?

I had only managed it because I actively used Devour even before entering the Tower of Babel. Not even the famous guilds could hit that number even if they tried their hardest to help someone.

‘It wasn’t in the plan, but this is actually perfect.’

Without hesitation, I selected the newly added difficulty.

The Basic Training Hall test could normally be attempted again even after failure. But if I slipped up on Hellfire difficulty even once, I would lose the chance to take the test entirely.

“Yeah. I’m going for it.”

A massive penalty meant the reward would be just as massive!

The moment I selected the difficulty, an eerie light flickered within the wooden puppets’ eyes.

My own shadow, huh?

Before I could even question it, red slime covered the head of one of the wooden puppets. The liquid writhed for a moment before taking on a human shape.

“That’s… me.”

The form the wooden puppet had taken was an exact copy of myself. So that was what the quest meant by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠“shadow.”

The moment it finished replicating my face, the puppet kicked off the ground. Its fingernails extended by twenty centimeters.

It looked like it had copied the Sharp Claws skill.

“This is ridiculous.”

Judging by the puppet’s speed, it had copied my stats as well. But just because our stats were the same, did it really think it could beat me?

Whoosh! Whoosh! The puppet’s claws sliced through the air in straight, simple lines. Its movements were quite fast since it had taken my exact stats, but its stiff joints made its intentions painfully obvious.

I sliced off the puppet’s outstretched elbow and slipped into its staggering embrace, slashing its throat in one clean motion.

With a wet slice, the puppet’s head—identical to my own—flew into the air before rolling across the floor.

It wasn’t a pleasant sight, even if it was fake.

Fortunately, the head returned to its body after a few seconds.

“Is that all?”

Of course. If they were going to name it Hellfire and act all intimidating, they had to deliver a test worthy of the name.

Just in case, I placed my hand on the puppet’s body.

So recovering HP and MP with Devour during battle was impossible. Well, it wasn’t like I only had Devour.

Thanks to the Blessing of the Earth Mother Goddess, my HP and MP recovery rates were increased by fifty percent just by standing still.

Wait a second.

‘Essence collection already completed…?’

I read the message several times.

The skill the wooden puppet had copied was Sharp Claws, which came from the Silver Fang essence. But if it could copy something like the incomplete Primal Species essence…

‘Could I Devour it?’

It was a hypothesis worth testing.

I crossed my arms and waited for time to pass.

One minute later, two of the wooden puppets in the training hall turned their heads to look at me. Red slime covered their heads. The number of copies that looked exactly like me had doubled.

“Haaaaaaaah—!!!”

My mana-infused roar shook the entire Basic Training Hall. The two puppets flinched.

It was a debuff skill that didn’t distinguish between friend and foe. Since I was alone, I didn’t need to worry about friendly fire.

Ten percent might not sound like much, but in actual combat, even small differences could decide the outcome.

Just like now.

Crack!

My two “shadows” couldn’t even use a single skill properly before they were sent rolling across the floor.

I used Devour on the two fallen puppets.

It actually worked?!

“Holy shit.”

I couldn’t help but curse in amazement.

Crack!

One of the wooden puppets shattered with a loud crash.

“Another one on its way to the Lord.”

I grinned as I smashed the puppet to pieces.

I had obtained a Primal Species essence in a completely unexpected place. Primal Species essences could only be found on Earth, and since intact fossils were ridiculously expensive, acquiring one at this point in time had been impossible.

‘This is a total jackpot.’

After repeated battles, only eleven puppets remained standing.

It seemed the Hellfire difficulty required destroying every single wooden puppet in the training hall.

An ordinary player would have fallen the moment the number of puppets reached five. The only reason I was still standing was because I was the one taking the test.

‘The skill copying actually worked in my favor.’

When players received the Tower’s invitation, they were usually granted one trait and one skill. I only had Devour, but even after clearing the tutorial, most people only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ended up with around five skills total.

I, on the other hand, had used Devour to increase my skill count like a madman.

‘Copying passive or non-combat skills is meaningless.’

Like Dragon Heart or Dissolve, for example. Quite a few puppets had been destroyed without ever using a single copied skill, relying only on their base stats.

When the cooldown ended, the final group of wooden puppets glared at me.

One of them suddenly opened its mouth wide.

Wait—

“Haaaaaaaah!”

Damn it.

My balance wavered for a split second. It looked like one of the puppets had copied Roar. The other puppets flinched as they heard it too.

“You idiots. You didn’t realize it doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe?”

Every puppet except the one that used Roar had been debuffed.

Copying one of my skills at random was fine, but—

“No matter how many of these morons there are, they’re still no match for me.”

I dashed between the puppets using Agile Hind Legs, weaving through them with ease. One puppet raised its guard. A gray carapace covered its forearm.

I clenched my fist and struck the armored forearm with Brute Force.

BOOM!

With a deafening crash, the puppet’s arm exploded.

“Ow, that actually hurts like hell.”

Frowning, I snapped the neck of the now armless puppet.

Armor wasn’t invincible. If you had enough power, you could shatter it like this. It was strong against piercing and slashing, but heavy blunt impacts wore down its durability quickly.

Of course, the synergy from my essences gave me ways to compensate for the weaknesses.

“That’s something to think about later.”

I kicked off the ground with Agile Hind Legs. My right arm was trembling from the aftereffects of Brute Force.

The puppets that had been charging toward where I had been standing a moment ago. One of them crouched slightly before leaping after me with Agile Hind Legs.

But that was all it had.

I tore apart the charging puppet with Sharp Claws.

It didn’t take long to destroy all eleven of them.

“Let’s wrap this up.”

With a loud crunch, I smashed the final wooden puppet into pieces.

Alright. What kind of reward are we talking about?

I swallowed hard, anticipation rising in my throat.